Decorating machine



Sept. 27, 1932. J, N, FOUNTAlN 1,879,608

DECORATING MACHINE Filed Oct. 21, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY. v

p 27, 1932! J. N. FOUNTAIN DECORATING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledOct. 21, 1930 '6; ATTORNEY.

Sept. 27, 1932.

J. N. FOUNTAIN DECORATING MACHINE Filed Oct. 2.1, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 3JIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIIII llfllllllllllllllll" INVENTOR. ja /772%.

BY MGQ ATTORNEY- P 27, 1932- J. N. FOUNTAIN 1,879,608

DECORATING MACHINE Filed Oct. 21, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 'INVEN TOR.

fimya/flfizw/k BY Ma Q, ATTORNEY.

Sept. 27, 1932. J N, FOUNTA| N 1,879,608

DECORATING MACHINE Filed Oct. 21, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet s A TTORNE Y.

Patented Sept. 27, 1932 UNITED STATES JOSEPH N. FOUNTAIN, OF WEST-FIELD,MASSACHUSETTS DECORATING MACHINE Application and October 21, 1930.Serial No. 490,310.

' This invention relates to improvements in decorating machines and isdirected more particularly to machines for decorating sheets or blanksof material with designs The principal objects of the invention aredirected to the provision of a machine for decorating sheets of materialwith designs which may consist of several different colors. According toone special feature ofthe invent-ion the machine is constructed andarranged for decorating the inner faces of the flaps of envelope blanksor the like. That is, instead of securing to the innerside of the flapsof envelopes ornamental interliners the machine of the invention isadapted to decorate the flaps to similate such decorated interliners.

According to another feature of the invention, the machine is soconstructed and arranged that sheets of material such as envelope blanksare removed from a stack of undecora-ted blanks at one end of themachine and fed into and through the machine wherein they are decorated.Subsequently the decorated surfaces are treated with material to preventan offsetting action and finally the sheets or envelope blanks areremoved from the machine and arranged in stacked relation. In this waythe operation of providing envelopes with designs including a number ofcolors is continuous, whereby production may be increased and the costof the envelope blanks lessened.

The novel features of the invention are accomplished by the provision ofa novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fullydescribed and which for purposes of disclosure are shown 'in theaccompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front side elevational View of a machine embodying the novelfeatures of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a rearside elevational view of the machine. 7

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal actional elevational view through the machine.

Figs. 4 and 5 are sectional views at a relatively larger scale throughone pair of cooperating rolls which apply a design to the blanks, theparts in these figures being shown in different relative position forpurposes of description.

Fig. 6 is a partial sectional longitudinal view at a larger scale ofcertain parts of the machine at the delivery end thereof.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of the conveying means forthe blanks at the delivery end of the machine.

Fig. 8 is an elevational sectional view on the line 88 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a plan view of an envelope blank showing a design appliedthereto.

Fig. 10 is a partial plan view of mechanism for conveying the blanksthrough the machine.

Fig. 11 is a sectional elevational view'on the line 1111'in Fig. 3, and

Fig. 12 is a perspective view at a larger scale of a member carried bythe conveyor chains for engaging the blanks.

Referring now to the drawings more in detail the invention will bedescribed.

Side frames 2 are provided which are spaced apart and are adapted forsupporting the various units of the machine. A main driving shaft 4 isjournalled in the machine frames 2 which is driven by means from a motor6 belted to a pulley 8 on an outer end of the drive shaft.

Brackets 12, 14 and 16, arranged in pairs, are supported at the uppersides of the side frames 2 and a shaft 18 is journalled in theintermediate brackets 14. This shaft 18 is driven from the driving shaft4 by means of a gear 20 on shaft 4, an idler gear 22 and a driven gear24 carried by the shaft 18. The rear end of this shaft 18 carries abevel gear 26 (see Fig. 2). This gear meshes with a bevel gear 27 of ahorizontally and longitudinally disposed shaft 30 journalled forrotation in brackets 32 carried by the rear side frames 2. An uppershaft 28 rotatable in the bracket 14 is driven from shaft 18 by means ofgears 29 which are in meshing engagement and are fixed to the shafts 18and 28. Other shafts 32 journalled in the brackets 12 and 16 whichcorrespond to the shaft 18 and upper shafts 34 corresponding with theshaft 28 are journalled thereabove in said brackets 12 and 16. Theseshafts 32' and 34 are geared together by means of gears 40 at the rearend thereof and each of the shafts 32 at their rear ends carry a bevelgear 42 which meshes with a bevel gear 44 of the shaft'30. In this waythe shafts rotatable in the brackets are driven for rotation in thedirection of the arrows. Other brackets 50 at the feed end of themachine are supported by the side frames 2 and upper and lower shafts 52and 54 are journalled for rotation therein. Intermeshing bevel gears 56carried by the lower shaft 54 and the shaft 30 at the rear side of themachine are provided so that the shaft 54 is driven from shaft 30.

Intermeshing gears 58 fixed to the shafts 52 and 54 at the rear endsthereof are provided whereby the upper shaft 52 is driven from the lowershaft 54. A transverse shaft 60 at the delivery end of the machine isournalled in brackets 62 which are supported 'by the side frames and hasfixed to its rear end a bevel gear 64' which meshes with a similar bevelgear 66 on the shaft 30, by the means of which this shaft 60 is drivenfrom the shaft 30. A pair of disks 64 and 66 are carried by the shafts52 and 54 at the feed end of the machine and are arranged so that theirperipheries contact with one another for receiving therebetween anenvelope blank or the-like. The direction of rotation of the disks issuch that a blank received therebe-' tween will be fed forwardly intothe machine. These disks 64 and 66 are preferably disposed at the centerof the machine and the upper disk 64 is provided with a suction picker68 which as it is rotated by the disk, suctionally engages the uppermostblank of a stack of blanks represented at 70 to swing it between thedisks. This suction picker mechanism'is fully shown and described in thepatent to Joseph N. Fountain, No. 1,762,537 of June 10, 1930 and neednot be described more in detail herein. At either side of. the disks 64and 66 there are'disposed on the shaft 54 sprockets 72 which engageendless chains 76. Sprockets 78 on the shaft 60 at the other or deliveryend of the machine also receive theendless chain 7 6. As shafts 60 and54 rotate the chains are driven so that the upper runs thereof travelfrom the feed end to the delivery end of the machine. The blanks fromstack 70 are delivered by the disks 64 and 66 onto these chains 76 andby means of these chains the blanks are fed through the machine to thedelivery end thereof.

Guideways 80 extend from end to end of the machine for suporting theupper runs of the chains. As shown in Fig. 11 these preferably comprisecentral chain supporting members 84 and side guide members 86 securedthereto. The chains rest on the central members 84 whereby they aresupported and are guided against sideways movements by the members 86which extend upwardly at either side of the chains.

sides of the chains and are arranged to over- 1 lie marginal edges ofthe envelope blanks as shown in Fig. 10. The downwardly extendingportions are arranged to engage the side (edges of the envelope blanksso as to push the blanks along.

Hold down bars such as 100, as shown in Fig. 10, are disposed betweenand above the chains so that their lower edges will overlie the envelopeblanks B and hold the same against upward movements. Longitudinallyextending guide wires 102 and 104 are also provided to receivetherebetween certain flaps such as 106 and 108 of the envelope blank. Inthis way, as the blank is conveyed forwardly by the chains it is held ina flat even condition.

Longitudinally extending supporting tables 110 disposed between thechains are supported on legs 112, which are fixed to transverse bars 114at the upper sides of the side frames 2. These tables are arranged tounderlie the blanks as they are fed forwardly and support them againstdownward bending movement. I

Form rolls 120 are carried by the shafts 28, 34 and 34; that is, therolls 120 have on the peripheries thereof certain form plates 121 or thelike for receiving coloring material such as ink. Other rolls 122arecarried by the lower shafts 18, 32 and 32 and these are preferablyarranged in an eccentric relation on said shafts. As in Figs. 4 and 5,the peripheries of the rolls are brought into contact while the formmember of the upper rolls are in position to bear on a blank between therolls. That is, the blank as it is fed forwardly by the chain passesbetween the rolls 120 and 122, and as the form or designapplying portionof the upper roll bears on a blank for applying a design thereto thelower roll backs up the underside of the blank to exert a considerablepressure thereagainst. The form elements on the several rolls 120 may bedifferent and will preferably consist of related different forms so thata multicolored design may be applied to the blanks. For instance, thefirst roll may have a form for imparting to the blank, as in Fig. 9,that part of a design designated at 130. The next roll 120 may have aform for imparting to the blank that portion of a design represented by132, and the last roll may have a design element for completing thedesign represented at 134 in Fig. 9.

A set of rolls indicated generally by 140 1s provided at the upper sideof each of the rolls 120 so that each form member may be supplied withink from a font 142. A swinging roll 144 transfers ink from the font tocertain of the rolls 140 which are disposed so as to contact with thedesign element on the rolls 120.

By means of the mechanism described the blanks are fed forwardly by thechains and pass between the sets of rolls successively. In this way thedifferent parts of the design are applied thereto so that when theblanks leave the last set of rolls the design on the blank is complete.

Where ink is used for the design, it will be readily obvious that shouldthe blanks be stacked one upon another that there will be a tendency foran off-set action. That is, the ink from the face of one blank will besmeared on the underside of the next uppermost blank. The design ofcourse will be smudged by this transfer of color from one blank toanother and the underside of th blanks will be smeared.

To overcome this difficulty the means now to be described is provided.See Figs. 1, 3, 7 and 8 particularly.

A shaft 160 is journalled in bearings 162 carried at the under side ofthe rails 80 at the delivery end of the machine. A pulley or roll 164 iscarried by the shaft or may be rotatable thereon and is provided with aplurality of grooves as shown. grooves, such as the extreme outergrooves and those spaced therefrom, receive endless belts 166. Thesebelts at the extreme end of the machine pass over a roller 168 and A thelower runs of the belts pass under a transverse bar 170 as shown. Agrooved sheave pulley 172 on shaft receives an endless driving belt 176,which passes over a central groove 17 3 of roll 164 intermediate itsend. In this way the roll 164 is driven from shaft 60 so that theendless belts are driven in such a way that the upper runs thereoftravel towards the delivery end of the machine. The blanks as they arecarried forwardly by the chains are received by the upper runs on'thebelts just described, so that the blanks are conveyed thereby forwardlyof the machine.

A tank 180 located below the belt is for receiving excess material whichis sprayed onto the blank from an a paratus indicated generally by 182located a bove the belts 166. This mechanism 182 may take any desiredform and will preferably be arranged to spray such material as paraffin,wax or the like downwardly onto the upper side of envelope blanks in thebelts 166. According to the invention it is desired to' spray the blanksas they are conveyed forwardly by the belts so as to obviate thepossibility of the ofisetting action referred to.

At the delivery end of the machine, see Fig. 6, there are located lowersupporting bars 186 at either side of the belts 166 and upper bars 188thereabove the ends of which rest on the first-mentioned bars. The upperbars are Some of the carried by a transverse member 190 and they aremore or less yieldable or may move relative to the lower bars. They areso disposed that the sides of the blanks pass therebet-ween as they areengaged by a suction device 192, indicated in Fig. 6. This suctiondevice is similar to that at the feed end of the machine and is arrangedto suctionally, engage the forward ends of blanks on the belts 166 andswing them forwardly and downwardly onto a table 194, as is indicated.The bars exert some resistance to the removal of the blanks so that theywill be positioned properly for the action of the suction picker.

In the operation of the machine blanks are engaged by the suction picker68 at the feed end of the machine and fed into the rolls 52 and 54 andby them onto the chains 7 6. The blank-engaging members 90 of the chainare arranged to engage the rear ends of the blanks and as the chainstravel forwardly they carry the blanks between the decorating rolls 120and 122 one after the other so that different portions of a design areapplied to the blanks.

As the blanks leave the last pair of rolls and have been decorated thechains carry the blanks forwardly onto the belt 166. These are arrangedto support and transport the blanks forwardly beneath the sprayapparatus 182 described so that a spray of paraffin or the like isapplied to the upper side of the blanks and over the inked design. Asthe blanks reach the end-of'their travel on the belts 166, they areengaged by the suction picker device 192 and are transferred therebyfrgiln the belts onto the stack of blanks on the ta e.

In this way blanks are fed into the machine one after the other and aresuccessively decorated and waxed and finally delivered at the dischargeend of the machine.

The parts of the machine are so arranged ,that the blanks are passedthrough the machine at great speed whereby efficiency results andenvelope blanks are decorated at a low cost. As will be noted there areno reciprocating parts, the motion of the various elements being rotaryin a single direction, wherefore it is possible to attain the speed andobtain the desired production. The parts are so arranged and timedrelative to one another that the blanks are conveyed one after the otherso that the design applying elements will operate to position the partsof a design in proper relation on the blanks.

Various changes may be made in the form of the apparatus withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention, and I thereforeprefer to be limited, if at all, by the appended claims rather than bythe foregoing description;

What I claim is: v 1. A machine for applying designs to blankscomprising in combination, shafts at opposite ends of said machine,sprockets shaft and connections between said driver and said groovedroll, a roll forwardly of said shafts and endless conveyor belts carriedby said roll and said grooved roll.

2. A machine for applying designs to blanks comprising in combination,shafts atopposite ends of said machine, spaced sprockets on said shafts,endless chains carried by said sprockets, pairs of design applying rollsspaced along the upper runs of said chains, a grooved roll between oneof said shafts and a pair of said rolls adjacent thereto, a driver onsaid shaft and connections between said driver and said grooved roll, aroll forwardly of said shaft, an endless conveyor belt carried by saidroll and said grooved roll and rigid supporting members for blanksbetween the upper runs of said endless conveyor belts.

3. A machine for applying designs to blanks comprising in combination,shafts at opposite ends of said machine, sprockets spaced apart on saidshafts,endless chains carried by said sprockets, spaced pairs of deedgesof blanks carried by said chains and longitudinally extending membersdisposed inwardly 0f the adjacent inner faces of the upper runs of saidchains for bearing on blanks carried by said chains.

6. A machine for applying designs to blanks comprising'ln combination,shafts at opposite ends of said machine, sprockets spaced apart on saidshafts, endless chains carried by said sprockets, the upper runsextending from end to end of said machine, pairs of design applyingrolls in spaced relation along the upper runs of said chains, means forsupporting upper runs of said chains, longitudinally extending meansoutside said chains for supporting the marginal edges of blank carriedby said chains, and longitudinally extending members disposed inwardlyof the adjacent inner faces of the upper runs of said chains for hearingon blanks carried by said chains and longitudinally extending membersbetween the chains for supporting blanks between the members which bearon the upper side thereof.

In testimony whereof Iaffix my signature.

JOSEPH N. FOUNTAIN.

sign applying rolls along the upper runs of H said chains for acting onblanks carried therebetween by said chains, a grooved roll between oneof said shafts and an adjacent pair of rolls, a driver on said shaft andconnections between said driver and said grooved roll, a roll forwardlyof said shaft and an endless conveyor belt carried by said roll and saidgrooved roll.

4. A machine for applying designs to blanks comprising in combination,shafts at opposite ends of said machine, sprockets spaced apart on saidshafts, endless chains carried by said sprockets, spaced pairs of designapplying rolls along the upper runs of said chains for acting on blankscarried therebetween by said chains, a grooved roll between one of saidshafts and an adjacent pair of rolls, a driver on said shaft andconnections between said driver and said grooved roll, a roll forwardlyof said shaft I and an endless conveyor belt carried by said roll andsaid grooved roll, blank supporting means adjacent said chains andlongitudinally extending means for overlying blanks on said chains.

5. A machine for applying designs to blanks comprising in combination,shafts at opposite ends of said machine, sprockets spaced apart on saidshafts, endless chains carried by said sprockets, the upper runsextending from end to end of saidmachine, pairs of design applying rollsin spaced relation along the upper runs of said chains, means forsupporting upper runs of said chains, longitudinally extending meansoutside said chains for supporting the marginal

